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Loose Change to Loosen Chains is a student led effort to raise awareness and funds to end modern day slavery. I founded this campaign when I was 12 years old with the goal of raising up a new generation of abolitionists who would fight to free the 27 million people in slavery today.  I believe our generation can end the sale of humans once and for all.  The problem today is many times greater than it was 200 years ago when most people thought slavery ended.Today, children are sometimes sold by their parents when they face desperate situations or are deeply impoverished.  Women and girls are sometimes tricked thinking they will get a good job and find they have been trafficked into the sex trade where they'll serve as slaves.  Sometimes entire families are in slavery together in rock quarries, brick kilns and on plantations.  They are threatened, beaten, starved and abused -- and they are owned by someone else.  In a "civilized" world, this must stop!LC2LC is intended to be exported -- for students to take up the effort, expand upon it and implement it in their own communities without the active involvement of adults.  I have created all of the tools for schools, community groups and churches to launche their own LC2LC effort. 

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The original idea was conceived by a fellow friend, John Yturralde. Yturralde first began this project by having a school-wide school-supply drive in May 2007. He then donated the supplies to schools in Uganda as part of his missionary work in summer of 2007.
The school's world history teacher, Ms. Ellen Bergan influenced a group of my friends and I to do more within the school. She left us with a challenge that as Student Council leaders, we should not be focusing on dances and pep rallies, but rather the politics of a school such as students' rights, voice, and opinions. She also stressed on global awareness.
My group of friends, John, and Ms. Bergan, including myself, met to discuss what we would do with our community. We were influenced by each other, Ms. Bergan, and a documentary called Invisible Children.
We would collaborate every single club on campus to sponsor a global issue. Each club would raise awareness, interest, and funds for that issue.
The official Week of Consciousness would be from November 13-16, 2007.
It would spark off with a silent sit-down at lunch in the school's quad area. Students were encouraged to sit-down against global warming, AIDS/HIV, human trafficking, etc. Each day students were encouraged to wear black in support of the event and against the issues. Over 200 students participated in the sit-down.
The Wednesday and Thursday were days filled with mass information on issues. Each club set out booths in the lunch quad providing fliers, pamphlets, and other information regarding their topic.
A world affairs class, taught by Ms. Arlene Benedicto, held a visual representation of human trafficking. Students were trapped inside a cage could not be removed unless other students donated money. Afterwards, the caged student would give a brief lecture about the topic.
One example was the Environmentalist Club held a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth", a documentary about global warming. Admission charge was a $1 donation and included popcorn, candy, and drinks to accommodate the film. This specific event concluded with an open discussion about global warming and ways to relieve the issue.
Friday concluded the event by substituting the weekly pep rally into a Consciousness Rally. The rally was held in the school's amphitheatre which seats about 1,000 people. It was then split up into sections: Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors, and Clubs. The class spirit competition was substituted with each club and class participating in a 'cause competition'. The loudest, liveliest, and most active group won the grand general donation funds to be used for that group's issue.

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Discover Worlds is an entirely student-run 501c3 non-profit organization. We focus on students using their TALENTS to make a difference in what they are PASSIONATE about. Whether you are interested in sports, public speaking, acting, writing, you can join the Discover Worlds team to raise awareness and make a difference!

Additionally we train youth in inner-city and rural areas across the world to riase awareness within their own communities. For example we have inner city youth in the U.S. talk to schools in their area about issues such as violence and gangs.
Our chapter in Rwanda is made up of very educated students who go into rural villages to talk about issues such as HIV/AIDS, human rights, and nutrition.
This program is a sustainable way that students can help their own community.

We have speakers around the United States who talk about issues such as the hunanitarian crisis in Darfur, ending extreme poverty, global warming, and more!

We also have programs that TAKE ACTION on extreme poverty.

We have set up a sponsor-an-orphan program in Rwanda. Since Rwanda is so overpopulated, its very important for youth to get a college education to come out of extreme poverty. This is why we have set up a scholarship program for orphans of the genocide and of HIV/AIDS. The highest achieving orphans can have their college education covered!

We also work with setting up sister school programs. An elementary or middle school in the United States can adopt a school in rural developing countries and help them with their basic materials such as pens, books, and uniforms.

Discover Worlds is really made of students across the United States and world who really want to make a difference on the issues they care about most!

While we are based around the world, our primary locations are at Duke University, Harvard University and Northern NJ high schools.

Our website is www.discoverworlds.org and you can email for more information.

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Think Girl is a non-profit organization dedicated to informing and empowering women through the website and community programs. We hope to help girls and women understand feminism’s past, present and encourage them to contribute to it’s future.

We always have project running both online and throughout metro-Detroit. Visit ThinkGirl.net for more information. Want to bring Think Girl to your city...just email us!